Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive by Ken Jennings

Someday again in 2003, Ken Jennings and his collage blood brother Earl did what thousands of individuals had performed sooner than: they auditioned for Jeopardy! years, seventy five video games, 2,642 right solutions, and over $2.5 million in winnings later, Ken Jennings emerged as trivia's undisputed king. Brainiac lines his upward push from nameless desktop programmer to nerd people icon. yet alongside the way in which, it additionally explores his newly conquered state: the realm of minutiae itself.

Jennings had consistently been minutiae-mad, poring over almanacs and television consultant listings at an age whilst most youngsters are nonetheless gazing Elmo and placing beans up their nostril. yet minutiae, he has came across, is centuries older than his adolescence obsession with it. Whisking us from the coffeehouses of seventeenth-century London to the web age, Jennings chronicles the ups and downs of the trivialities fad: the quiz publication explosion of the Jazz Age; the increase, fall, and upward thrust back of television quiz indicates; the nostalgic campus trivialities of the Nineteen Sixties; and the Eighties, while Trivial Pursuit® back made it trendy to be a know-it-all.
Jennings additionally investigates the shadowy demimonde of today's trivialities tradition, guiding us on a journey of minutiae hotspots throughout the USA. He is going head-to-head with the blowhards and diehards of the school quiz-bowl circuit, the marginally soused trustworthy of the Boston pub minutiae scene, and the raucous individuals within the annual Q&A marathon in Stevens aspect, Wisconsin, "The World's biggest trivialities Contest." And, after all, he is taking us backstage of his inconceivable 75-game run on Jeopardy!

But notably, Brainiac is a love letter to the lifeless truth. What marsupial has fingerprints which are indistinguishable from human ones? What planet has a crater on it named after Laura Ingalls Wilder? What comic had the misfortune to be born with the identify "Albert Einstein"?
Jennings additionally ponders questions which are a bit extra philosophical: What separates minutiae from meaningless evidence? Is being sturdy at minutiae a mark of intelligence? And is trivialities only a waste of time, or does it serve a few not-so-trivial objective after all?

Uproarious, foolish, enticing, and erudite, this e-book is an impossible to resist social gathering of nostalgia, interest, and nerdy obsession--in a observe, minutiae.

Created for RMFRP and Shadow international, the recent Races & Cultures delivers every little thing you must layout special, fascinating and various characters in your Rolemaster and Shadow international adventures. Races & Cultures is split into major sections on races and cultures so that you can mi and fit!

Bleak days have come to the Taldan urban of Cassomir and close by settlements, with a wave of melancholy and rage sparking awful acts of violence. while retired adventurer Taergan Flinn doesn’t appear to fulfill together with his outdated partners, the computers are known as upon to enquire, top them right into a swirling maelstrom of horror and tragedy. Can the desktops unmask and confront the malevolent entity in the back of the insanity and repair wish to a tortured land?

"Tears at sour Manor" is a deluxe super-adventure for 5th-level characters, and comprises sixty four action-packed pages full of terrible haunts, eerie monsters, new magic goods, a gorgeous double-sided and full-color poster map that includes a neighborhood review and an incredible miniatures-scale battleground, and extra! The profitable access of the 2013 RPG famous person contest—in which unpublished authors compete for an opportunity to write down a Pathfinder Module—"Tears at sour Manor" comprises not just Steven Helt’s profitable experience, but in addition a plethora of latest monsters and magic goods submitted through different contestants!

Players can count on to arrive eighth point by the point they whole this epic event and tackle the otherworldly entity that flourishes on humanity’s despair!

Written by way of Steven Helt, RPG star 2013 winner.
Cover paintings by way of Kieran Yanner.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-613-3

Pathfinder Modules are 64-page, fine quality, full-color, adventures utilizing the Open video game License to paintings with either the Pathfinder Roleplaying online game and the traditional three. five fable RPG ideas set. This Pathfinder Module comprises new monsters, treasure, a double-sided poster map, and an absolutely particular bonus place that may be used as a part of the journey or in the other video game!

Additional resources for Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs

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The survivors of his warband swear that all the past bearers of Linnorm's Lament answered its final call, and that to this day they remain in silent vigil over their lord's icy tomb. Cursed and Intelligent Items Like most other magic items, horns of Valhalla are occasionally burdened by curses. Some of the known curses include: • The summoned barbarians immediately attack the owner. • The horn can only be used if the owner owes fealty to the clan who crafted the horn. • The owner loses the ability to speak for 1 hour after sounding the horn.

Neither Redbeard's body nor the horn was ever recovered. The survivors of his warband swear that all the past bearers of Linnorm's Lament answered its final call, and that to this day they remain in silent vigil over their lord's icy tomb. Cursed and Intelligent Items Like most other magic items, horns of Valhalla are occasionally burdened by curses. Some of the known curses include: • The summoned barbarians immediately attack the owner. • The horn can only be used if the owner owes fealty to the clan who crafted the horn.

Some were sold abroad, however, and the helms have since caught the imagination of many a crafter of magic items. In deference to their origin, most helms of brilliance are still constructed in the Osirian style, but the splendor of the helms is also suited to Azlanti designs, so much so that Azlanti helms are a close second in number to Osirian. Helms of brilliance exist all across Golarion, most often as museum pieces, parts of treasure hoards, or on bodyguards of the very inf luential or extremely rich.